There is the very 1st recipe that I can remember doing when I was a Kid. On rainy days, I could not go play soccer or roam around the close country side with my friends I would take my mum’s cooking book and ask her to read me the recipe. I was barely able to decipher the words that made it yet. So, this very simple chocolate cake recipe became my childhood favourite and a treat for my birthday.

Description:Sift the flour into a bowl. Add in the ground almonds and the caster sugar and mix well.Separate the egg yolks from the whites. Beat the egg whites into strong foam; add a drop or two of lemon juice at the end to make them hold firmer.

Place a bowl into a bain-marie and place the chocolate to melt, very slowly. When done, take the bowl of the heat and stir in the butter. Then stir in the egg yolks 1 by 1.Stir in the flour/ almond mixture into the chocolate. When this is done, start folding in the egg whites foam as carefully as possible by cutting through the chocolate mixture and bringing it to the surface repeatedly.

Set the oven on 160 degrees Celsius/ 320F (gas mark 5).

Fill 4 individual rings to 2/3 of their heights and bake them for 30 minutes.

When cooked let them cool on a pastry rack.

For the icing, put the chocolate to melt into a bain-marie. Mix well the icing sugar and water until it reaches a creamy consistency. Stir this sugar mixture into the chocolate and work vigorously for 10 minutes. Keep in a bain-marie until used.

The final stage of this recipe is the coating. Place your cakes on a pastry rack and neatly coat them with the chocolate icing.

Then garnish them as you wish. Here I made those for Easter so I used some chocolate rabbits and stuff.

“And king Solomon gave unto the queen of Sheba all her desire, whatsoever she asked, beside that which Solomon gave her of his royal bounty. So she turned and went to her own country, she and her servants.”

Frank Krawczyk smoked meat productsBased in Dereenatra, Schull West Cork Frank offers some of the finest smoked meat on the Island. From handmade salamis to pancetta and chorizo. Worth the try.Find him at:- Dereenatra, Schull West Cork- frankk@oceanfree.net- Farmer's markets in Cork and Kerry.

Ballyshiel Milk toffeeTommy Corrigan and his Argentinian wife Karina Gaetani have launched this small milk toffee about 7 years ago, following a traditional Argentinian recipe. For me they make a healthy, natural and very different spreads, dessert sauces or ice-cream flavouring.Find them at:- Kilcrutin business park, Tullamore Co Offaly- ballyshiel@eircom.net- 090 645 4776/ 087 270 1472.

The Organic SupermarketThis is a brand new food store that has just opened about a month ago, on main street Blackrock, Co Dublin. To my knowledge, it is the only shop that offers 100% organic products (and fair trade for most of them!), that is not an health store, in Dublin. Good choice of food and wines and the choice is still widening.Find it at:- The Organic Supermarket, 2c Main Street, Blackrock, Co Dublin, open seven days a week.- 01 2781111.- www.organicsupermarket.ie